The New Newsletter by Syr AndreasHak, MP, PK, CSy, etc.In January of 1979 the shire of the Rhydderich Hael became the barony of the Rhydderich Hael. The group intended to be worthy of that promotion, and to show the rest of the kingdom that we were a force to be reckoned with. One of the goals we set was the production of a first class monthly newsletter. Prior to the group's elevation in status, the only newsletter was a one or two sheet mimeo that Morgan Elandris (Baroness) produced for free with Fredonia State College's equipment.The first Baronial Chronicler was Svidrir Einarrsson (Baron). He had high goals and a lot of enthusiasm. In those days the only prominent newsletters we were aware of; were Pikestaff, which was much like it is now, but only 20 pages long; Fewmet, the Thescorre newsletter which was 5 sheets of typing paper corner stapled and xeroxed on both sides by Baron Alric Bowbreaker (Master and Sir) who worked for the Xerox Corp; and the Salamander, the Bhakail newsletter which had colored paper for the covers and single line artwork.Svid liked the color paper covers and as soon as he could afford to he started using them. When he started The Ice Dragon newsletter it was five sheets corner stapled. Svid also liked artwork, but didn't get many art submissions at first. There was not then the wealth of calligraphers and illuminators that we have had for so many years now. He didn't let that stop him. He did his own artwork and illuminated capitals, getting inspiration for new styles anywhere he could. He often took things from non-period sources just to challenge readers. As long as it looked right he didn't care where it came from.I didn't have much to do with the first two issues but the seneschale, Arianna of Wynthrope (Mistress of the Laurel and Pelican), was pushing all the active members to contribute to the newsletter. She especially pushed me once she found out I was interested in writing and publishing. We had met in an Arthurian Literature course even though I was a business student and she was a music student. I started writing articles, and I'm still writing them, and like everything else, it's all Arianna's fault.Almost all the active members of the new barony contributed something. It was perceived as a duty to make sure our newsletter was prestigious, and in my opinion it was not very long at all before the Ice Dragon was the best newsletter in the kingdom.Besides articles, Svid was always looking for new ideas. When I gave him a list, he realized I was genuinely interested in the newsletter. I particularly encouraged him to print sideways on the page and center staple. I soon convinced him to publish that way (he probably would have anyways) and he soon convinced me I should be deputy chronicler and that I should actually help with production.Before I could start helping, Svid turned out a particularly strange issue. It was the April Fool's issue and I think it was the first to use the center stapled format. It wasn't labeled the Ice Dragon. It was labelled PlayElf. I bet you get the idea. At least half of the mailed copies of this issue didn't get delivered. The cover wasn't revealing. Really. Maybe they were worried about copyright infringement. Or maybe they were just curious. Anyways, the whole situation was pretty entertaining, and that issue is something of a collector's item today because of the number that disappeared in the post.Soon I was helping Svid with production. We took turns typing other people's articles on my antique manual Royal typewriter, in my basement at 43 Douglas Street in Fredonia. Whoever wasn't typing played with the cats, or heckled. I didn't find out for another decade that Svid strongly prefers handwriting to typing. He avoids typing whenever possible. Despite this, he continued to type the Page Two news and his personal weirdnesses. Svid isn't just a non-linear thinker, he's a non-planetary thinker, and this was often reflected in the newsletter.I bet everyone active in that era has at least one entertaining Svid story to tell. Svid has lived over a thousand miles away for the last decade, but he's still one of my best friends in the world. One of his weirdnesses was on my answering machine just last week. My friendship with him is one of the single strongest reasons I can imagine for belonging to a group like the SCA.The new newsletter wasn't fully funded by subscriptions at first. We could use the College's copying equipment, even the good stuff. But we had to buy our own stencils and paper. There were other start up costs as well, and the barony chipped in a little on these. And there were donations. I believe Baroness Morgan donated a small amount, despite the fact she was a poor college student at the time. Elric of Erehwon (Baron and Master of the Laurel and Pelican) donated quite a bit even though he was from Bhakail. For years afterward we sent him the newsletter in thanks. I know that at least twice I gave Svid money to buy enough paper for an issue.But Svid was a great salesman and built a truly impressive subscription list. Donations and I think one bake sale helped us send freebies to kingdom bigwigs and to establish trades with lots of other newsletters. Those trades helped the young barony learn about the Known Worlde and made us a lot more cosmopolitan than we would have been. Some people borrowed the copies we got in trade and read them at home. Other times we put them out at meetings and people browsed when others were partaking of activities that they didn't participate in.Long before his term as chronicler was up Svid was drafted to be Baronial Pursuivant. He didn't want to do both jobs. I had been doing production and a little bit of artwork and Svid had already taught me how to use the college's photoengraver and other equipment. In fact, he figured I'd done just about everything except the Page Two news and he knew I could handle that. And he really needed a vacation.So I took over. My first issue was awful. It was lacking in artwork, and articles, weighing in eight Pikestaff size pages smaller than Svid's issues. Svid quickly came to the rescue. He produced most of the cover art I used for the next 27 months as well as many articles and much miscellaneous filler. In time I got a lot of help from many people especially Arianna, when she had time. She also did a number of fine covers. She was the only person (besides Svid) who handed me camera ready copy.Learning how to put out a newsletter by and for the barony taught me a great deal about getting people to do things, about delegation, and organization, and especially about my own capabilities. They were lessons that were very necessary to my SCA career and very important throughout life.During my tenure as chronicler, some of the biggest and most beautiful issues of the Ice Dragon ever published appeared. I wasn't as good a salesman as Svid, but I managed to keep up the subscription base and dramatically increased the number of out-of-area trades. One of the ways I accomplished these things was by spending a lot of my own money on the newsletter. It became an unfortunate trend of my SCA career that I almost always paid for things out of my pocket because it was so much easier then raising funds or applying through channels. That trend finally changed when, after a dozen years, I had my first child.Eventually I reached a point, like Svid, where I really needed a vacation. I had produced twenty-six issues in twenty-seven months. Friends assured me that I HAD to keep the office because there was no one else to do it, or at least not as good as me. This has happened at the end of every term of every office I've ever held. They were wrong. They have always been wrong about this. There are always more good people to step up.After searching for a while I found a successor in Reikja von Fohrheim (Lady). When she accepted the office she immediately named Kunegunda Henschel von Schattenberg (Duchess) as her co-chronicler.The co-chroniclers did a good job producing the newsletter, but they cut way back on trades, freebies, over-sized issues, and so on. It depressed me a little at the time, because I associated those trades and freebies with the sophistication of our barony. It wasn't until years later that I realized it was my fault. I had kept the newsletter solvent with frequent large injections of my money. Then I turned the newsletter over to two poor college students. They were faced with the very dirty job of making an underpriced and insolvent newsletter viable, and they did a fine job of that. But they had to raise the subscription rates to be comparable to other monthly baronial newsletters. And they had to cut back circulation of unpaid copies. I believe they also began a series of regular bake sales to benefit the newsletter. They were fresh, and they were fiscally responsible. In short, they were just the kind of new blood the newsletter needed, now that it was no longer new.